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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28425528">Calling the Moon</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/notenuffcaffeine/pseuds/UrbanMuzes'>UrbanMuzes (notenuffcaffeine)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>The Magnificent Seven (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Character Study, Found Family, Freeform, Gen, Magnificent Seven AU: ATF, POV Vin Tanner</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 19:15:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,287</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28425528</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/notenuffcaffeine/pseuds/UrbanMuzes</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After a bust goes wrong, Vin takes some space to think over his resignation.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Calling the Moon</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This was a random oneshot, done for the Giving Thanks Lyric Wheel waaaay back in December of 2001. It was an exchange where folks were given a song and challenged to write a fic for it. I was given one called Calling the Moon, by Dar Williams. And this was the result!</p><hr/>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Faded headlights bounced around the winding road, not quite keeping up with the vehicle's speed. Creeping vines and autumn leaves were fortunate enough to be swept out of the way by the wind force created by that one small, jeep. The more permanent Foxtails were crushed under the four tires of the all-wheel drive. Cloud cover hung low, seeming to be a reflection of the driver's mood. The storm had passed, but the treetops were swaying from the uncertain winds that lingered.</p><p>The dirt path (unfit to be called anything resembling an actual road) cut around one last clump of trees. There, it opened up onto the familiar, flat mountaintop field. The terrain continued to rise, up behind and to the left of the small area, but from there, the only way through those trees was to climb. That wasn't what he wanted to do. This plain was open and unencroached. Alive and at once peaceful. Tribal land actually. And he'd been coming here almost since the day he'd shown up in Denver. It wasn't his heritage by blood, but it was one he valued. The one other family in that long list of failed foster setups that Vin had felt accepted in, one he respected. This land was their tribe's, and so, they said, it was his. It was where he felt safe, after all these years, it was still where he ran to think.</p><p>Tonight, Vin was running, but not to hide, not because he was in danger. But it wasn't one of the many visits he'd made because he was after the Earth's quiet.</p><p>Tanner had just run. His Jeep and that well known trail had suffered the consequences. Now he sat still, staring up at the clouds, thankful he hadn't been smart enough to buy a hardtop vehicle to accommodate the fickle Colorado climate as he willed the clouds to roll away. Little by little that's what they did until the welcomed sight of moon and starlight flooded into the clearing. Vin wasn't sure how long he had been sitting there by then, but it suddenly dawned on him that he'd left the Jeep running. The soft rumble of the idling engine was once again audible and he quickly turned the key. In one fluid motion, he dropped the ring onto the dash and flicked off the headlights before settling back again to stare up at the stars.</p><p>He knew the answers weren't going to be found there. But that was the easiest place to look, just at the moment.</p><p>"Need to move on," he told himself, his voice rough and reflecting the effort it had taken to say the words, "Been in one place too long."</p><p>The only response he was given was the shriek of an owl. Moonlight rained down all around him, turning the familiar green-yellow grass an eerie blue-gray. <em>No divine providence from it either,</em> he thought wryly.</p><p>Vin turned his thoughts inward and his eyes upward. Images flooded his mind and despite his better judgment, he tried to sort them out. Snapshots and movie segments of the past few years of his life in Denver. All stored in one carefully protected place, all suddenly pushing out of their recesses and making their presence known.</p><p>All revolved around six men, coworkers, and friends. Men he was dangerously close to calling family. Hell. Who was he kidding? Those six were already his brothers. Every last one of them. And that's what the problem was now; they'd all just scared the living hell out of him.</p><p>Four out of those six had nearly died the day before, when things had gone wrong in the lab they'd all been working to take down. Anger and fear still surged through Vin, stronger than anything. The sensation seemed unfamiliar again and was definitely unwanted. All he knew was that it meant it was time to leave. He was too close. This time they'd all survived. JD, Ezra, Nathan and Chris were all four probably checking out of the hospital right now. Vin glanced at his watch. Well, they would be checking out in another twelve hours anyhow. He had twelve hours to think before Josiah started figuring things out.</p><p>"What if I stick around longer?" he asked the night, his tone defensive as everything around him seemed to be frowning on the decision he was trying to make. "What if it happens again? 'n I can't help 'em again? I been down that road before an' I don't want to go back."</p><p>He wasn't five years old anymore, and somehow or another he'd been given a picture-clarity memory. At his age, there were things he didn't want to remember, and any of his friends crying over the loss of a brother wasn't one of them. He didn't want ta play pallbearer and he didn't think he'd make it through the drunken brawls that would probably follow. If he stuck around longer than he already had, the odds of all that happening would only get worse.</p><p>So then what about next time?</p><p>"Next time..." he growled helplessly. God forbid there ever be a next time, whether he was around to witness it or not. Vin had always known that he couldn't pull off saving the world, it just hadn't truly sunk in until the close call of the day before. That close call... almost wasn't. It was all in someone else's hands and there wasn't anything he could do if that someone else decided to let one of his friends slip through. They couldn't always rely on their sniper to save their asses. After all, in the time it'd take him to take out seven shooters, at least six of those seven shooters would have time to get off any number of shots in a firefight.</p><p>What Vin was now feeling, what he'd been feeling since yesterday, was a remembered emotion, always there since his mother's death, but he'd not noticed it in a very long time. He'd managed to work around it, until it was a faded memory of its own. Now the familiarity of it scared him. He'd lost friends before, to various different things, but yesterday... this time... it was different. The fear for his friends this time felt the same as he remembered from when he was a kid. The loss was still there, slowly growing more intense as his plan to drop out of sight cemented itself in his brain.</p><p>He didn't want to understand some of it. Tanner stubbornly stuck to trying to figure out what he'd done wrong. He thought he'd worked hard enough to get where he was, thought he'd shown off and perfected his craft as much as he could, living up to the expectations to stay with the ATF. All of that was supposed to have made the feeling go away. But instead it had only served to bring it back, full force and six times over. It didn't make sense, but Vin didn't choose to look at it from enough of the other angles to see why.</p><p>All he could see was that he'd screwed up in finding this 'family'. Vin couldn't keep them safe. All the talent and bull's-eyes shots in the world wouldn't change that, because sometimes, that's not what it all came down to. He was thankful for everything they'd brought into his life and wouldn't trade any of it. If it meant staying away, he'd rather have his memories of his friends be what they'd already lived through together, not a memory of even one of them being put into the ground.</p><p>What it came down to now, was that Vin Tanner didn't want to lose another family like that.</p><p>Silence fell around him as he realized he was no longer thinking about what he was going to do, but just trying to accept it. Decision made, all that was left was get used to it, then act on it. And he would. As soon as he knew the others would heal, Tanner was going to hand in his resignation. Go back to hunting bounties, where the ties weren't so strong, and there wouldn't be so many to break. Where he knew how it would end.</p><p>In the distance a wolf cried out in the moonlight, the lonely howl a welcome change from the quiet. Tanner distracted himself, thinking out what his leaving would do to the others. Chris would be mad as a hornet. He had this thing against his crew running out on him, which was understandable. Chris Larabee would take it personally the second he found out. They all would.</p><p>Ezra Standish and Josiah Sanchez were the only ones he reckoned wouldn't say anything. Sanchez wouldn't be too surprised, since the profiler seemed to know the rest of them better than they did their own selves sometimes. Standish would pull a deck of cards out of his pocket and play solitaire for a while, then he'd prolly put in a line or two of fancy BS words that were ultimately supposed to be supportive of Vin's decision. It wasn't exactly comforting to have finally figured out how the gambler thought when Vin realized that maybe they were afraid of the same things. But Ezra would stick it out.</p><p>Nate would be disappointed, pick up the phone, and try to get through to Vin's cell. Tanner made the mental note that he'd have to change numbers if he wanted to do things right. Buck and JD... damn, they'd be mad too. But they'd all get over it In a while, once things settled down again. Vin damn sure wasn't going to tell them why he was leaving, but they'd all eventually understand... right?</p><p>His face scrunched up, trying to fight the emotions, Vin lifted a hand and wiped halfheartedly at his eyes. The tear was gone before it had actually fallen.</p><p>"Damnit," he muttered, "Ain't no way... I gotta... Just gotta get out."</p><p>Before it all happens again.</p><p>The cry of the young wolf turned from conversational into threatened. It had gotten closer as well. Needing the distraction, Vin curiously got out of the jeep and crept through the knee-high weeds toward the cliff side. Once there, he dropped down onto his heels, staring out over the impressive spread of land below him. It was still miles before he saw even the first house lit up against the cold night. He half turned and glanced behind him, back up toward the mountain side that was left to be climbed. Idly, Vin considered actually venturing up, then and there, just for the view. The moon reflected off the clouds that still drifted past, making it nearly as bright as day in the middle of the night.</p><p>Sounds from below him though caught his attention once more and Tanner inched closer to the deadfall. The young wolf was in a rough clearing, maybe thirty feet down from Vin's position, squaring off with a scraggly looking old bear for some meager leftover meal. The pup must be the runt of the litter, Vin figured, or else it would have been one of the first with choice pick of the kill. Either that or it was on it's own. They both must have been hungry to be scavenging like that though.</p><p>His curiosity caught, Vin didn't move, watching the scene unfold below him. The two creatures went around a bit, the wolf valiantly protecting his find from the bear, getting up when it had been swatted down and going after the intruder again more cautiously. From where Tanner was crouched, it seemed like the poor cub was fighting a losing battle.</p><p>Then from the shadows of the tree line more snarls were heard. Shortly after, other gray, black, red and tan bodies leapt out into view. Vin stood up, surprised as he counted out six wolves of varying sizes all advancing on the bear in defense of their brother. He watched from that point on, only long enough to be sure the bear made his retreat.</p><p>Vin shot a glance skyward as he trotted back to his Jeep, reading meaning into what he'd just seen. Wondering if he'd actually <em>seen </em>it and hadn't imagined it. Sitting in the driver's seat again, Vin sat back and watched the clouds roll in again at an almost unnatural pace, like time was paused but moving on.</p><p>"I get the hint," he said quietly, grinning slightly. Vin glanced around at the familiar clearing, then over toward the distant Denver skyline. He couldn't leave. He didn't want to.</p><p>And besides, if the bears of the world didn't kill him for taking it solo, the snarling black wolf named Chris Larabee would, for running out on his pack.</p><p>A broad smile suddenly appeared as another thought occurred to him. All the times any one of them had gotten into some scrape or another, they'd stuck together and seen it through, and damned if they weren't all alive today to tell the tales.</p><p><em>There's something to be said for teamwork, huh?</em> Vin mused wryly. Six other men were needed to keep even one of them sane, alive. Thinking back on some of the things they'd gotten themselves into, Vin realized there was an amusing amount of truth to that idea, as strange as it seemed.</p><p>"Why mess with the odds?" he asked the white light of the moon, still barely visible through the clouds. The jeep roared to life and was crawling back toward Denver, with an eventual destination of Four Corners Mercy Hospital. Vin wasn't sure if the chorus he heard then was just in his head, but he swore he heard the seven wolves calling the moon.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>~the end~</p></blockquote></div></div>
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